Those
of us that warned that opening the doors would end in tears are
“anti-Muslim”?

Germany's
southern states are confiscating refugees' valuables in order to pay
for their stay, according to local authorities. It comes as Denmark
moves ahead with a plan to do the same, part of a controversial bill
aimed at curbing asylum seekers' rights.

"Cash
holdings and valuables can be secured [by the authorities] if they
are over €750 (US$810) and if the person has an outstanding bill,
or is expected to have one,” Bavarian
Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told Bild newspaper on Thursday.

The
government of Baden-Württemberg has implemented a stricter process,
with police confiscating cash and valuables above €350 ($378).

The
average amount per person confiscated by authorities in the southern
states has so far been "in
the four figures,”according
to Bild.

By
confiscating the personal belongings of refugees, the states are
implementing federal laws that require asylum seekers to use up their
own resources before receiving state aid.

$430
fortune? Denmark defends plans to seize migrants’ cash &
jewelry

"If
you apply for asylum here, you must use up your income and wealth
before receiving aid," said
the federal government's integration commissioner, Aydan Ozoguz,
stressing that such wealth includes assets such as family jewelry.

The
move has been criticized by the Left party (Die Linke), with MP Ulla
Jelpke telling Der Tagesspiegel that “those
who apply for asylum are exercising their basic rights [under the
German Constitution].”

"That
must not – even if they are rejected – be tied up with costs,"she
said.

Fueling
'fear & xenophobia'

Meanwhile,
Denmark is moving ahead on a bill which would also allow its
government to confiscate refugees' valuables. Prime Minister Lars
Lokke Rasmussen’s minority right-wing government already has enough
support for its bill to win a January 26 parliamentary vote.

The
legislation, which went through its final reading earlier on
Thursday, would allow Danish authorities to seize refugees' cash
exceeding 10,000 kroner ($1,450), along with many individual items
valued at the same amount or more.

Wedding rings and other
sentimental items would be exempt.

The
European Parliament voted on Wednesday to require Denmark to send an
official representative to Brussels to explain the country's plan to
confiscate cash and valuables from refugees, Danish media reported.
However, the country’s integration minister, Inger Stojberg, has
repeatedly stated that "Denmark's
immigration policy is decided in Denmark, not in Brussels.”

The
bill would also delay family reunifications, increasing the waiting
period for war refugees being able to apply to bring over family
members from one year to three years ‒ a move that has been slammed
by the director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

"According
to the European Court of Human Rights, the processing of family
reunification cases must be expeditious, flexible and efficient with
special attention and care," Jonas
Christoffersen told AFP. "This
is not consistent with a three-year waiting period."

The
Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks,
said earlier this month that the issue of family reunifications
raises “issues
of compatibility with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights which protects the right to respect for one's family life."

The
bill would also make already strict permanent residency requirements
even tougher.

Amnesty
International's deputy director for Europe, Gauri van Gulik, has
criticized the legislation, stating that singling out refugees
already traumatized by war is a “discriminatory
practice.”

The
bill has also been criticized by the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), which said it “could
fuel fear [and] xenophobia.” In
its January report, the agency concluded that Denmark will be in
violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Refugee Convention
if the bill goes through.

Seemingly
undeterred by the criticism, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke
Rasmussen has suggested that Denmark may go on to seek a revision of
the UN Refugee Convention if the refugee crisis "continues
or gets worse.”

Denmark
registered 21,000 asylum applications in 2015, making it one of the
top EU destinations for refugees after Finland, Austria, Germany and
Sweden.

The
influx of asylum seekers has led to tensions with locals in some
areas, with Danish women reporting sexual
harassment by refugees in at least three towns.

Several
nightclubs have imposed strict
admission rules, requiring patrons to prove their ability to speak
Danish, German or English.

Europe
continues to face its biggest migrant crisis since 1945, with the
numbers of asylum seekers expected to increase this year. More than 1
million refugees entered Europe in 2015, most of them from Syria,
where a civil war has taken the lives of 250,000 people and displaced
12 million since 2011, according to UN figures.